


The World Has No Right to my Heart

by scrawly_times



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Core Removal, Gen, Science Experiments, Torture, Unethical Experimentation, Vlad Whump, Whump, badger cereal, in which i reveal that unlike most of the fandom i'd rather torture vlad than the smol child, let the pain begin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-12-09 15:09:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20996837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrawly_times/pseuds/scrawly_times
Summary: It wrapped around his core, his core, his fire, part of his very self and soul. It wrapped around it and latched hooks into Him and pulled and pulled until he felt a pop and rip and he threw his head back and SCREAMED because nothing had ever hurt more in his entire life.The last thing he saw before passing out was a red-orange boiling orb of light and fury hovering above him, locked between metal and green jaws.---You've heard of tearing someone's heart out through their chest, now get ready for putting it back.





	1. Removal

**Author's Note:**

> so I like writing whump and i like hurting people when i'm sad 
> 
> also i really like playing with vlad's core

His memory was a little fuzzy. 

Laying there staring at the ceiling he could vaguely recall worry, fear. Possessiveness- but with an undercurrent of desperation. He couldn't let them find _ him, _ couldn't let them hurt _ his-  _

He didn't remember what happened. He didn't remember- 

Something was after him - them? - something was going to hurt  _ him  _ and he had to prevent that at all costs. Nothing was allowed to bring harm to _ his boy-  _

He vaguely remembered wires, wrapping around him, cutting, biting into his skin. Sharp, crackling electricity shooting over him that made him jerk and spasm. It hurt-  _ it hurt so much make it stop how DARE THEY release him at ONCE-  _ but he couldn't escape, couldn't break free. Even if he could have they _ knew they found out they knew about him he was in danger his boy was in danger-  _

There was no escape. 

Right now he was strapped down, strange, unnatural power flooding through him pulling him down down down he couldn't feel his powers couldn't feel his fire his _ core _ . Everything was numb but sparking with energy at the same time and it made his ectoplasm boil, lungs ache, nerves tingle. 

He couldn't feel his core. 

He was just laying there, feeling foreign energy arc over him. Biting into him and- 

How long had he been here? Nothing made sense, he was trapped, he couldn't escape-  _ why not?  _ Why  _ couldn’t  _ he escape? What on earth could hold  _ him?  _ Such a foolish oversight, his mind was truly short circuited by their machines and devices. In a rare moment of lucidity he clenched his fists and dug his claws into the metal table. They _ screeched _ and he growled slightly. 

He couldn't feel his core. 

That wouldn't do. 

He dug deep. He pushed past tingling hands and burning lungs and he  _ dug _ deep deep inside where he could feel a raging fire ready to _ burn.  _

The room began to warm up. 

He felt his mind clear, eyes flickering from the ceiling where they'd been gazing listlessly and looking around. A laboratory - worse than a hospital, worse than a prison, worse than anything. 

Vlad closed his eyes briefly and  _ tugged.  _

His core fought him, browbeat and numbed as it was. He growled loudly and  _ pulled.  _

The room burst into color and  _ heat.  _

Metal groaned and creaked as it superheated, flame bubbling around Vlad so hot the push of air stretched across the room filling it with visible waves of heat. He scratched the table underneath him and this time his claws sank easily into melting metal and steel. 

He snarled victory, ripping his arm free of one ensnaring device. He felt something  _ snap  _ physically and beyond the physical and felt his powers trickle back a little bit, one wall of the many keeping them buried falling. He used his free arm to rip and melt the restraint on his other arm. 

Fire continued billowing around Vlad in a bright haze. His eyes didn't quite want to work right - he squinted. There was panic and disarray, lights flashing and humans in white clothing running around him. They were pointing things at him and yelling but- his ears twitched, they were still numb, he could only faintly hear klaxons going off in the distance. 

Boiling heat wrapped around him comfortingly and his mind woke up more with every second his fire twisted around him. 

Vlad tried to sit up and growled- too many straps, too many restraints, too much holding him back and tugging on his powers and keeping him from going _ full out.  _ As he struggled to rip the belt over his chest off without clawing himself to shreds, Vlad missed the giant contraption whirring to life above him until something made him look Up. 

Vlad stared, red eyes wide and surprised. 

Metal arms spun and green electricity crackled above him. 

What..? 

Green  _ tendrils _ spun in between metal arms and twisted, writhing together as they reached for his chest. 

Something in Vlad screamed that this was very, very bad. He redoubled his efforts to free himself and he snapped the band around his chest too late. Metal arms pinned his chest down and green strands  _ dug deep reaching through ectoplasmic flesh and  _

_ he  _

_ oh God _

Vlad  _ screamed.  _

It was digging freezing tendrils deep into him, writhing inside and tearing him apart, reaching deeper and deeper until it- 

clicked- 

something- 

It wrapped around his core, his _ core,  _ his fire, part of his very self and _ soul.  _ It wrapped around it and latched hooks into Him and pulled and pulled until he felt a  ** _pop _ ** and ** _ rip_ ** and he threw his head back and  _ SCREAMED  _ because nothing had ever hurt more in his entire  _ life.  _

The portal, years of hospitals and treatments, injuries, betrayals, wounds, broken limbs -  _ nothing _ compared to the  _ agony  _ coursing through him with every inch that foul contraption ripped through him. 

The last thing he saw before passing out was a red-orange boiling orb of light and fury hovering above him, locked between metal and green jaws. 


	2. H e l l o

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vlad’s hand spread, reaching reaching for his core- 
> 
> He smiled faintly, eyes closing. Finally he could be whole- 
> 
> Fire slammed into him and his back arched over the metal table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So!!! The reception to this fic has been Odd but I have a good chunk written up so Might as Well post it while I've got it 
> 
> (Badger cereal is my fav thing so-)

Blurred senses. 

He couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't hear, couldn't smell. 

Everything rang and swam together, his entire body a tingling mess of pain and numbness at once. 

Vaguely he felt sharp slices, tight straps, crackling electricity. It hurt but it was barely noticeable. Nothing hurt enough to overshadow the all encompassing pain radiating from his chest and screaming at him from above. 

He could feel his core. He could feel his fire screaming and screaming for him. He could feel it, hovering above him trapped and locked away. It was screaming screaming screaming and the room was hot, so hot. That wasn't right he couldn't feel heat couldn't feel the boiling temperatures of his ectoplasm, so  _ why was he hot and sweating and hurting?  _

* * *

An eternity passed with his fire floating above him miserably, locked in metal jaws, fighting slowly slowly slowly to get back where it belonged. 

He remembered all of it and none of it at the same time. There was plenty of pain, they hurt him and bound him down tightly but- nothing could hurt as much as the monstrosity stuck above him. No scalpels or bone saws hurt as much as the emptiness in his chest. 

Time passed in twisted, distorted moments that stretched forever but no time at all. 

Then there was something different. 

Time clicked and he felt like something had changed and there- 

Oh. Cold. 

Something  _ cold  _ entered the perspiring heat of his room and he sighed, chest heaving as blessed cool air entered burning lungs. Everything was hot but this-  _ cool, cool air.  _

_ "Plasmius?"  _

What? What was- something white, something pulling his bonds aside and turning his head because he was too tired and heavy to turn it himself. Something white with glowing green eyes and it was- 

"Daniel?" He tried to say, voice and mouth and lips not working with him. He may have only just wheezed pathetically. 

Either way the white figure above him beamed, he could see teeth faintly glinting amidst flashing lights. Something about that seemed wrong- but he couldn't think about what was off about it. 

One of his hands was freed from its restraints and he shuddered, feeling powers trickle back into him like a toxic sludge. Slow and dripping, not anything like they were supposed to be. They weren't right- without his core everything was wrong. 

His freed hand was gripped tightly and he grunted slightly, still hazy. What? Couldn't Daniel- couldn't- 

Oh. 

His core was screaming slightly louder. 

Daniel snapped the strap across his chest and the core hanging above them grew in volume. 

Vlad tried to reach above him weakly, hand twitching and barely rising. "D- aniel… hel.. p me…" Help him get his core back, free it,  _ please please please please-  _

"Easy Vlad-" He sounded scared, why did he sound scared? "You're hurt and I know you're probably not thinking straight, just- careful,  _ please _ I can't-" Daniel's voice cracked into a slight sob. Why? Why was he crying? 

Vlad wanted to turn his head and focus his uncooperative eyes on the child next to him but he couldn't, eyes staring endlessly into the glowing ball of molten energy above him. It hurt to look at, it was so bright red-orange and  _ angry.  _

"Pl- ease-  _ please _ D- aniel-" His voice cracked when he tried to speak louder, abused and hoarse from screaming. He tasted blood and ectoplasm and the sharp tang of metal from when they'd tried to gag him at one point. 

Gag? When had they- he cracked open his mouth in a moan as freezing cold hands cupped his face. 

"God, Vlad-" Daniel's voice echoed eerily in his head- he wasn't speaking out loud, were Vlad's ears not working? He faintly heard alarms going off in the distance when he tried to listen but it wasn't anything he could be bothered to be concerned about. "Your mouth is freaking shredded- and you're freaking burning up, shoot!" Those icey hands were all of a sudden all over his feverish skin and Vlad gasped raggedly. "Shoot shoot- aw to hell with it, this deserves a nice big FUCK." 

Daniel's hands against his skin were so frigid they almost  _ burned. _ Vlad shuddered and whined. It felt so blessedly cool but it made his entire body light up like it was on fire. This wasn't right - he couldn't burn, he couldn't feel affected by heat. This wasn't  _ right _ he hadn't been hot since he was _ human  _ and burning from the inside out-

"Come on Vlad, let's get you out of here." Daniel sounded scared and worried and so so wrong Daniel was never supposed to sound like that.

Daniel's freezing hands pulled away from Vlad's face to his great disappointment, only to quickly freeze much of the heated moisture in the air into a chilly mist. Vlad blacked out for a few seconds from minor shock. When his vision filled back in, spotty as it was, he was feeling Daniel yank at another strap holding him down. 

He took a wheezing breath in and felt blessed,  _ cool  _ air sink down his lungs and emanate throughout his chest. The change in temperature made his head swim. 

“Daniel… ple.. ease… please…” 

Daniel was yanking at one of the restraints around his leg. “Easy Vlad, I’m getting you out of here.” His voice was determined. 

Vlad muttered something, not even sure what, throat hurting. He struggled to move his head. His powers were moving in sluggishly, not working as they should have with his restraints falling one by one. His core was screaming louder and louder and he was slowly losing what little hearing he had to it. 

He tried calling to Daniel again, not sure if he’d even spoken. His head lolled somewhat weakly and he successfully turned it to look straight up. Metal bars surrounding a giant molten- 

It was bigger than before. 

...what. 

It was - despite Daniel’s efforts to cool the room - getting hotter and hotter. His core, sitting amongst metal and green ropes, was  _ growing  _ with every restraint that snapped. 

The metal holding it was starting to melt. 

Vlad breathed in shakily and used every ounce of willpower he had left to lift his right hand up towards it, feeling tears come to his eyes.  _ Finally.  _ His core-  _ please please give it back make it stop hurting please-  _ it shook, his core  _ thrashed  _ like it was equally unhappy to be confined. 

The room was starting to become so hot Vlad couldn’t breathe. His lungs were starting to cramp up, everything was past burning and he was nothing _ but  _ heat heat heat and  _ pain.  _

Daniel’s face appeared above him but his eyes refused to focus, only staring endlessly into stolen fire. Everything began happening at once. 

He was shaken once, twice- 

“D- Daniel please-  _ move-” _

Metal shrieked and green tendrils snapped. 

Daniel moved. 

Vlad’s hand spread, reaching reaching for his core- 

He smiled faintly, eyes closing. Finally he could be  _ whole-  _

> Fire slammed into him and his back arched over the metal table. 

_ He was nothing but pain and burning and pain and burning  _

_ and pain _

_ and burning _

_ pain _

_ burning _

_ pain _

_ burning _

** _Pain. _ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked! The basic concept: Danny comes and rescues Vlad and he mcfuckin dies 
> 
> Jk not really but close enough 
> 
> In other news Im very tired


	3. Traumatizing 14 Year Olds Since '99

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skulker mentioned it idly, probably not thinking it through. Something something guys in white Vlad’s mansion something- Danny had tuned back into their banter just in time to realize something was potentially wrong and then get smacked in the face with a net.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we get a Danny chapter! Because nothing makes better whump than the witness being horrified

Vlad was missing for  _ days  _ before Danny found out what had happened to him, not too interested in digging into whatever the jerk had been up to this time. They might have something of a truce going on - and Vlad might have been a little bit less of a fruitloop lately - but he was still an epic  _ jerkface.  _

Skulker mentioned it idly, probably not thinking it through. Something something guys in white Vlad’s mansion something- Danny had tuned back into their banter just in time to realize something was potentially wrong and then get smacked in the face with a net. 

Later once he’d had time to go investigate Danny had learned  _ everything was wrong.  _ The Guys In White had taken Vlad Plasmius. How when where or why he wasn’t sure, but they  _ had.  _ And he didn’t want to  _ think  _ about what Vlad was going through. They might be enemies but  _ nobody  _ deserved the kind of stuff those guys did to ghosts. Much less a halfa- 

The realization that they had another halfa had really terrified Danny to the core. His biggest advantage against the GIW was that their equipment didn’t always work on him or in ways they expected. Not only did he not have it in him morally to leave Vlad to them, he couldn’t leave Vlad to forcefully give up information on halfas. 

The search lasted nearly two weeks of increased panic before Danny found out where on Earth they had taken him. Tucker and Sam didn’t come with - ghosts were dangerous but these were real life humans with real life  _ guns.  _ They stuck to hitting their security and computer systems from afar while Danny struck. 

He used his human form and ghost form intermittently, using the chaos Tucker was causing to move about relatively unnoticed. They knew he was there before long but he managed to find and get into the room they had Vlad in, so it was a win-lose. 

The first thing that he noticed was how damned  _ hot  _ the room was. 

“Plasmius?” He tried, to no response. “Tuck- the door I just went through?” Danny stared wide-eyed at the naked figure strapped to an examination table. “Lock it down, make sure it won’t open.” 

_ “Got it.”  _

_ “Any luck?”  _ Sam asked nervously. 

“I- I found him.” Danny didn’t want to get closer, didn’t want to see what they had done to him. “I’ll- I’ll keep you guys updated.”

Instead he looked around the room, stomach turning with every test tube and container. It looked almost exactly like a much cleaner version of his parents’ lab to his growing horror. Except- things were labeled, and he- he saw-

_ Ectoplasm extract - location: thoracic cavity.  _

_ Teeth - upper right canine 3. Ectoplasmic base?  _

_ Hair sample: Vlad Masters.  _

_ Hair sample: Vlad “Plasmius”.  _

_ Hair sample: post-CR, mixed state.  _

_ Ectoplasmic discharge - blood mixture.  _

The lists went on and on labeled things that made Danny want to hurl. He decided maybe looking at the naked man on the examination table was less vomit inducing and he shot ectoplasm blasts at all the tubes and glass containers. Might as well ruin what they had, even if they possibly already had computer records. He made a mental note to ask Tucker to take care of those while he was already messing with their systems and slumped his shoulders. He couldn’t waste time - he needed to see if Vlad was still- if he was still- 

He forced himself to turn around. 

He kept his eyes at torso height or above but- god, he almost wanted to look at the creepy labels again. 

Vlad looked freaky and he looked  _ horrible.  _ He looked like he was human but half ghost - ears normal and rounded, skin only slightly tinted blue and shiny with sweat. His hair was mixed with streaks of black and silver, spread out over the table with obvious shorter spots where they’d snipped some off. Glowing green straps criss crossed his entire body, something telling Danny they were there for more than to just keep him from moving. 

His skin was covered in slashes, cuts, and open wounds that  _ oozed  _ a too-dark ectoplasm. A closer look that made Danny want to hurl showed that he was bleeding a mixture of ectoplasm and blood. Vlad’s face was pinched and looked pained, his eyes staring half open and glazed up into open air above him. 

God why was it so freaking  _ hot  _ in this room? Why was Vlad  _ sweating?  _ Even in his human form Danny had  _ never  _ seen him sweat,  _ ever.  _ Danny pushed a burst of cold into himself and rubbed his arms, trying to cool himself off. 

It was really, really creepy how Vlad was just staring off into nothing like that. 

Danny slowly unbuckled the main strap holding Vlad’s head still and tilted his head to the side, trying to get his attention. 

“Vlad? Fruitloop, come on, look at me.”

Vlad’s eyes were slightly reddish, not entirely human and not entirely ghost. Their pupils twitched and contracted slightly, eyes moving somewhat. His face twitched soon after, looking faintly confused. 

“Vlad? Plas, come on. You in there?” There was something entirely  _ wrong  _ about the distant, glazed expression on Vlad’s face. 

Vlad’s lips moved and a slight wheezey noise came out, some recognition finally starting to show. He looked worried and then somewhat panicked. Another wheeze- almost sounding like Danny’s name. 

“It’s me! Yeah, come on, back to reality fruitloop.” Danny patted the side of his face softly to no real effect. He swallowed and bit his lip, frowning. Maybe- his eyes were drifting around, not really landing on Danny’s face. Maybe he couldn’t hear very well either? 

All ghosts could do some minor telepathy if they tried - Danny kind of sucked at it, but he could pull it together enough for this. 

_ “Plasmius?”  _

Vlad’s breathing hitched, eyes focusing a bit more. “Daniel?” It was quiet, weak, and barely understandable- but it was  _ there.  _

Danny couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his face, feeling the huge knot in his chest loosen slightly. Vlad was still in there. A bit buried and hurt, but he was going to be  _ okay.  _

“Oh thank god.” Danny touched his earpiece. “Guys, he’s  _ alive.  _ He’s hurt- he’s hurt  _ really  _ bad but he’s  _ alive.”  _

_ “Relatively speaking.”  _ Tucker said, trying to sound sarcastic but sounding slightly relieved too. 

“Tucker!” Danny admonished, reaching down and starting to undo some of the things strapped around Vlad’s arms. His hands were trembling just a bit too much. He squeezed Vlad’s hand briefly when it twitched. When he pulled one of the straps from Vlad’s chest he shuddered violently, wheezing so badly Danny wondered if he was getting any oxygen. 

“...h-elp m-me…” Vlad’s arm tried reaching up, shaking so badly it wasn’t even really going anywhere. 

“Easy Vlad-” Danny put a hand on his chest, not knowing how but wanting to soothe him somehow. "You're hurt and I know you're probably not thinking straight, just-” Danny knew a lot of dead people but he’d never- “Careful, please I can't-" Danny had never actually seen someone  _ die  _ before. He didn’t want to. 

Vlad had gone back to staring at whatever- he tried to say something, starting to cough. Danny’s chest sank when he saw blood and ectoplasm trickle out. He couldn’t help but reach for Vlad’s face- oh jesus they’d pulled some of his teeth out, leaving bloody, gaping holes behind. 

He frowned, moving his head around to look better. They’d done something else to his mouth, the corners of his lips raw and irritated as well. Danny was muttering to himself and he almost missed Vlad’s  _ whimper.  _

Now that he noticed it, not only was the room hot as hell but Vlad felt like he was  _ burning up.  _ That wasn’t right- Vlad had a slightly above average temperature due to his core, but he couldn’t- he was  _ sweating  _ and when Danny reflexively checked his forehead Vlad leaned into the touch, eyes drooping in pure relief with a groan. Danny pushed some more cold into his hands. Vlad needed to cool down- he didn’t know what Vlad’s temperature limit was but he was pretty sure this was pretty damn over it. 

_ “What’s taking so long Danny?”  _ Sam asked in his ear, Danny jumping slightly. 

“Sorry- sorry, I just-” Vlad groaned again and Danny winced. 

_ “Monitoring shows it looks like they’ve figured out you found him and they’re trying to get into that room, Danny.”  _ Tucker reported unhappily.  _ “Hurry it up!”  _

He looked down at Vlad’s half-human features, twisted in distress and relief and just not  _ there  _ like he wasn’t even sure what was going on. "Come on Vlad, let's get you out of here." Danny said quietly, pushing it telepathically as well. 

Well, no point in saving Vlad if he died from some weird ghost fever shortly after. Danny pulled his hands away and  _ pushed  _ his ice into the room around them. Vlad  _ gasped  _ eyes rolling up into the back of his head and quickly melting into an expression of pure  _ relief.  _

He quickly set to undoing the rest of the weird straps holding Vlad down, careful to keep his eyes off the guy’s crotch. Seriously, the Guys In White didn’t even bother with a modesty blanket or anything? Freaking creepos. 

Vlad started twitching more and more with every strap that was broken, making small noises and maybe mumbling things as well- Danny wasn’t sure. He just knew it kept getting hotter and  _ hotter  _ in here. 

Vlad’s arm reached up again and Danny glanced where it was headed- 

Oh. 

What. 

The fuck was that thing. 

Angry, swirling red hot energy that Danny didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed or sensed before and- 

Oh jesus FUCKING christ was that Vlad’s- 

Vlad whimpered, fingers twitching and reaching up but not making it high enough. 

No wonder Vlad was- was  _ burning up  _ and sweating and not quite home, god, if they’d found a way to  _ remove a halfa’s core-  _

An enormous chill went down Danny’s spine and it  _ wasn’t _ just his ice core. He didn’t… he didn’t want to  _ think  _ about it,  _ couldn’t  _ think about it. He didn’t have  _ time  _ to think about it. 

He brushed that aside and tripled his efforts to free Vlad. He had to get him free, break his core free from whatever weird glowing metal thing was holding it, figure a way to carry both Vlad  _ and  _ his core out of the damn place without getting caught and making this whole rescue mission  _ pointless-  _

Danny could hear pounding and the creak of the solid door over the security systems going off and he cursed under his breath. He  _ ripped  _ the final strap off with ghostly strength and nearly went to fly up when Vlad  _ cried out  _ and whined. 

He quickly moved to check on him, panicked to see Vlad looking back to insensate and shaking him- 

“D- Daniel please-  _ move-”  _ It was the clearest thing Vlad had said yet and Danny looked up at screaming metal- 

Daniel didn’t even think and he just dove out of the way of the blazing ball of fire that fell out of the ceiling. 

And then when he looked up from his pile on the floor he saw Vlad arching off the table  _ screaming  _ with a ball of fire stuck to his chest and not going back into him like it was  _ probably _ supposed to. 

“Shit! Shit shit-!” Danny rushed up, hands held out hopelessly. What was he supposed to do?! 

The fire  _ was  _ absorbing into Vlad once he looked- but Danny was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to be burning him at the same time, skin rapidly going red, purple, and slowly starting to blacken. And it was definitely hurting, Vlad was  _ screaming  _ so loud Danny’s ears were ringing. 

Danny’s hands frosted over and without meaning to he reached above Vlad and  _ pushed.  _

Something was preventing Vlad’s core from going where it needed to go, so something deep inside Danny was telling him to  _ help.  _

It was helping- instead of sinking at a barely noticeable speed it was actually  _ getting  _ somewhere. Danny hissed in pain as the sheer heat burned through his ice as fast as he could pump it out for several long minutes until- 

It was gone. 

Danny’s hands planted awkwardly onto Vlad’s chest and he fell over a bit, gasping. His gloves were gone- burned away, his skin burned and hurting so freaking bad but- 

He was more concerned with the horrible, blackened mess that was Vlad’s chest. Even as he watched the light blue tint of Vlad’s skin darkened and darkened until he was the proper color for his ghost form, ears sharpening and hair turning black. Danny sighed in relief. 

“Vlad?” He tried, swallowing dryly at the rasp in his voice. It felt like the heat had sucked all the moisture out of him. Vlad didn’t so much as twitch. “Vlad?” Danny said louder and shook his shoulder. Vlad’s head lolled to the side at the motion, eyes closed and not so much as twitching. “Oh no.” Hopefully- hopefully Vlad just needed a power nap. Yeah, hopefully. It must take a lot out of you to randomly have your core sucked out and shoved back in. 

Danny straightened up and winced, hands hurting when he tried shaking them out. Well at least he could still  _ feel  _ the pain. It was when the pain  _ stopped  _ that you needed to worry with burns. He scooped Vlad’s shoulder over his and hefted him up, this was the awkwardest of all awkward situations considering the poor guy was  _ still naked  _ but Danny had to get him out of here and  _ now.  _

“Hey Tuck?” Danny walked towards the door. 

_ “Yeah Danny?”  _ The sound of typing fingers clacking away told Danny what he was probably doing. 

“Open the door.” 

A beep later and Danny froze one very surprised group of GIW agents into ice cubes ad flew over them, on the move. 

Time to head home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny is Fear 
> 
> Also this is a 14 year old child 
> 
> Help him


	4. Local Tired Man Gets More Tired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hurt/comfort recovery is the only valid way to continue whump

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for badger cereal hangin 
> 
> Thank y'all for the interest in this fic???? Like it didn't get much at first but it's Slowly boomin and I'm happy!!!

God everything hurt. 

Everything- everything hurt, but not… there wasn’t an emptiness… he could feel warmth, too much,  _ so much too much he was burning alive,  _ but it was  _ warmth  _ and it was coming from  _ inside of him  _ like it was supposed to. 

Vlad tried to open his eyes and groaned. His eyelids were too heavy, sticking together. 

Had he mentioned everything hurt? 

He was still on his back but- but… he felt… he was on a soft surface, something light draped across his legs. A bed? 

What… what had happened? 

Vlad remembered vague flashes of white and green, Daniel. Daniel had rescued him? 

He  _ forced  _ his eyes open. They still only  _ just  _ cracked open, the world hazy and green. 

“Oh! Vlad, thank god you’re awake!” 

His head thankfully complied with falling to the side he’d heard the too loud voice in, eyes still not entirely cooperating and seeing a hazy black and white blob. 

Daniel? He tried speaking but his throat did nothing but wheeze, causing a spike of  _ pain  _ and a deep itching that sent him into a coughing fit so painful it resonated through his entire body. Every cough doubled his agony until something  _ cold  _ settled against his neck and it helped soothe the burning pain. 

When he finally stopped coughing Vlad was so exhausted he barely registered the water being brought up to his mouth to sip. It felt  _ heavenly  _ on his abused throat. What had happened? 

...right… right, screaming until his throat was raw and bloody could do that to a fellow. He hoped he hadn’t lost his voice… 

“Take it easy fruitloop, you’re safe.” What was clearly Daniel’s voice said, sounding odd. 

Vlad was so tired from the coughing fit that he couldn’t help but slip right back into sleep. 

* * *

The next time he woke up he vaguely felt less like he’d died the rest of the way. Vaguely. 

He cracked his eyes open to see a black and green sky one would never see on Earth. The Ghost Zone? What was he doing here..? 

Vlad forced his head to the side, everything else feeling too numb, heavy, and painful in turn to do much else. There was shifting and he mentally cursed- he’d turned his head to look right at a rather large rock. 

“Vlad?” 

With some effort he managed to force his head the other way to see a fuzzy outline of Daniel. 

“Can you hear me fruitloop?” 

Vlad frowned slightly, eyes focusing poorly. He wanted to speak but- his throat twinged painfully and he tried swallowing. 

“Cool-  _ cool.  _ That’s- okay, you can hear me! Dunno if you can move much-” Daniel drifted closer and his hand went for him- 

Vlad breathed in sharply at the  _ freezing  _ cold hands that touched his forehead, trying to pull away with a grunt. What was Daniel doing-?!

“Shoot, still feverish. At least it’s good you’re reacting more- you conscious on me fruitloop?” Daniel sounded so hopeful it was  _ strange.  _ Vlad resisted the urge to sigh and forced his head back to nod faintly. “Oh thank god.” Daniel actually sighed in relief. “You’ve been in and out for days, after-” He choked up and shook his head. “Your uh… your… core’s having a hard time syncing back up with your human half, is what the ghosts I managed to get help from said. That’s all we can figure out.” Daniel sounded immensely uncomfortable. “You’ve had a fever bad enough to kill a normal human, been in and out of consciousness and delusional for most of it. You tried to bite me- it was actually kind of funny.” 

With the gaps in his teeth Vlad could feel, he would bet it was a lot funnier with so many fewer fangs to dig in- he frowned. He had teeth, no fangs. His human form? He tried to look down and his neck refused to bend that far. All he could see was a glimpse of a truly worrying number of bandages. 

At his slight nod towards it for answers Daniel breathed in sharply. “Your… core didn’t go in right. It burnt you… really bad on the way in. I think the fact that you’re half dead to begin with is the only reason your organs aren’t literally toast. It’s… it’s bad, fruitloop.” His voice was quiet. 

Considering Vlad couldn’t feel his entire torso beyond a vague numbness and ache, he could assume it was pretty bad. 

Vlad opened his mouth just to try and get a better breath- even breathing was hard right now. Daniel jumped and scrambled to the side. 

“Oh shoot! Yeah that’s right, here-” A cool glass of water was held in front of his face and Vlad sipped from it gratefully. His hands twitched but the motion hurt too much to even  _ think  _ about holding a cup with them yet. “I’ve got some ectoplasm or some soup if you’re feeling up to it - both should help you heal, in fact it would probably help to mix them. Your main problem right now is that your human form had enough time without your core to remember it was human and is trying to reject your ghost half. We gotta remind it how it’s supposed to be. You feeling up to eating?” 

Vlad blinked slowly, brain trying to decode the rambling coming from above him. 

“Shoot, forgot- um. Blink once for soup, twice for ectoplasm, three times for mixed, and glare at me if you just wanna go back to sleep.” 

Vlad closed his eyes briefly and made a face before slowly managing to count out three blinks. He might as well while he was still conscious. He could feel it slipping away from him as Daniel rambled. 

He fell asleep sometime in the middle of being spoonfed, too exhausted and in pain to bother being embarrassed about it. 

* * *

Hot, hot, he was hot, make it stop, please! 

Someone help, someone- 

He was burning, burning, burning alive please help! 

Maddie! Please! Someone! Anyone!  _ Jack!  _

“Vlad calm down it’s okay you’re just- ow! Shit, you’re just sick, Vlad please!” 

Daniel! Please! Make it stop make it stop he was burning alive- 

“Vlad you’re going to hurt yourself, your neck’s already all kinds of messed up-!” 

Please please he was burning alive he didn’t want to burn alive again he couldn’t die AGAIN please- 

* * *

His throat hurt less when he woke up, but upon trying to clear it he was faced with a spike of pain and an odd, detached numbness. 

Vlad opened his eyes and stared at the spectral skies until something sat on his shoulder. 

“Mrow?” 

He turned his head, shocked. There was Maddie, his gorgeous little furry princess. His cat bumped her head against his and he felt tears start to gather in his eyes. 

“She literally wouldn’t let me leave without her when I snagged some stuff from your mansion.” Daniel’s voice brought Vlad’s attention to him sprawled over a chair, looking half asleep. “I think she smelled you on me or something?” 

Maddie curled up half on his shoulder, half on the pillow his head was propped up with. A soft rumbling purr was just barely audible. 

“Please tell me you’re conscious again and I’m not just talking to a cat-” Vlad looked over slightly annoyed. “Cool. Thirsty? Hungry?” 

Vlad nodded reluctantly, realizing he felt… both better and worse. When he tried mouthing a question Daniel shook his head, looking serious. 

“You keep having these fever spikes where you just… you get delirious and start yelling and… I think you’re like this close to blowing your voice out, honestly.” Daniel scratched the back of his head, mumbling something to himself tiredly. He looked like hell. 

Vlad stayed awake to drink some more water and eat a much larger portion of ectoplasm and broth before he quickly fell asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty so note that I've had a good chunk of this fic prewritten and this is coming up on the last of the fic that I had already done, updates from here on out may be more sporadic 
> 
> I'm also going through... a lot of stress and shit so how much I end up writing may vary 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed and have a lovely day!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> essentially the recap: GIW captured Vlad, he's Really out of it, and by the time he pulls it together enough to make an escape attempt they yoink his core out to extremely painful results 
> 
> let me know what y'all think! hmu at my tumblr @professional-fruitloop and have a lovely day


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